UW-Madison in the Media

A selection of media coverage about the university and its people.

How Much Consciousness Does an iPhone Have?The New YorkerJune 7, 2013What has more consciousness: a puppy or a baby? An iPhone 5 or an octopus? For a long time, the question seemed impossible to address. But recently, Giulio Tononi, a neuroscientist at the University of Wisconsin, argued that consciousness can be measured—captured in a single value that he calls ?, the Greek letter phi.

Reich: Innovation And Investment Dollars Turn To A New Region: The MidwestForbesJune 5, 2013There are, however, accelerator programs that are trying to change that. One program that I’m intimately familiar with, given my ties to UW-Madison, is called gener8tor and it is launching its third class of startup companies. The program is based in Madison, Wisconsin and is drawing companies from Austin, Madison, Milwaukee, Chicago, and the Twin cities.

Candy Crush Saga: Why Millions Can't Stop Crushing Candy on Facebook, PhonesABCNEWS.comJune 5, 2013"The human visual system is primed for pattern detection, which is a key component of this game," Heather Kikorian, an assistant professor of human development and family development at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, told ABC News. With Candy Crush, that pattern- solving strategy is core and becomes more and more challenging as the game goes on.

Speaking Out: Hip Hop Takes its Place in AcademiaNEA ArtsJune 4, 2013In 2004, Willie Ney brought a team of high school students from Madison, Wisconsin, to the Brave New Voices International Youth Poetry Festival in Los Angeles. Ney, who was working in an outreach capacity for the University of Wisconsin-Madison, was enthralled by the creativity, talent, and passion that he witnessed, calling it a "transformative experience." But he was also struck by the realization that he was the only university-level representative in attendance. "There was no integration of higher education with these students, who were brilliant writers and thinkers," he said. "There are thousands of poets out there, but universities are not recruiting them. They’re recruiting athletes."

Feeling Down? Looking at Your Facebook Profile for 5 Minutes Might HelpABC NewsJune 3, 2013When you think of things to do to improve your self-esteem or self-image, you probably don’t think about heading to Facebook. It might actually be the last place you think of, given that a percentage of people leave Facebook because of the negativity on the social network.

Cartoonist Lynda Barry Helps College Students Tap Innate CreativityNPRMay 30, 2013Like most of her work, cartoonist Lynda Barrys class at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, is unorthodox. "No artistic talent required," the course description states. The course is described as a "writing and picture-making class with focus on the basic physical structure of the brain."

Reading Gains Lag Improvements in Math New York TimesMay 30, 2013Quoted: “Your mother or father doesn’t come up and tuck you in at night and read you equations,” said Geoffrey Borman, a professor at the Wisconsin Center for Education Research at the University of Wisconsin. “But parents do read kids bedtime stories, and kids do engage in discussions around literacy, and kids are exposed to literacy in all walks of life outside of school.”

Dandelions more numerous this springWISC-TV 3May 29, 2013Experts say it’s a banner spring for dandelions because of last year’s drought. Dr. Doug Soldat, with the University of Wisconsin Department of Soil Science, said last summer’s dry weather means grass is thinner, leaving more room for weeds.

UW scientists reprogram cells to study Down syndrome Milwaukee Journal SentinelMay 29, 2013Researchers at University of Wisconsin-Madison have reprogrammed cells from people with Down syndrome and used them to seek greater understanding of what goes wrong in the disorder.

Our weird weather may be linked to rapid melting of Arctic sea iceArizona Daily StarMay 28, 2013One theory is that sea ice loss alters atmospheric patterns that cause the jet stream to swing north or south for prolonged periods, creating warm or cold spells that last days or weeks. In short, Arctic warming "essentially loads the dice" in favor of more wavy, erratic jet stream patterns, said professor Stephen Vavrus, a University of Wisconsin researcher who has worked on some of the studies.

From Quarry to TempleScienceMay 28, 2013Two thousand years after the Kizilburun shipwreck, excavating archaeologists have figured out exactly where it came from, where it was headed, and why. Sometime between 100 B.C.E and 25 B.C.E., a wooden ship carrying almost 60 tonnes of stone foundered in Aegean waters just off the coast of Turkey. It went down bearing its entire cargo, including eight massive drum-shaped blocks of white marble. Those blocks fit together to form part of a tapering column that likely stood more than 11 meters tall, plus a square uppermost piece: a Doric column.

Wisconsin Looks to Take Next StepRugbyMag.comMay 28, 2013The Wisconsin Rugby Club returns to the USA Rugby DII Club semifinals looking to earn a National Championship that they missed out on last year.

10 Most Popular Business SchoolsU.S. News and World ReportMay 23, 2013The School of Business at University of Wisconsin—Madison edged out the top-ranked private school, enrolling 90.4 percent of accepted students in fall 2012 to Harvard Business School’s 89.3 percent, according to data reported by the schools in an annual U.S. News survey.

App aims to change grocery shoppingLaCrosse TribuneMay 22, 2013University of Wisconsin-La Crosse students worked with a UW-Madison student on a mobile app that could reinvent the way people shop for groceries.

The Dark Side of LiberationNew York TimesMay 21, 2013Quoted: “I could not believe what I was reading,” Ms. Roberts, a professor of French history at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, recalled of the moment she came across the citizen complaints in an obscure archive in Le Havre. “I took out my little camera and began photographing the pages. I did not go to the bathroom for eight hours.”

Marine reunited with K-9 who served by his sideDes Moines RegisterMay 20, 2013333 days. That’s how long Marine Sgt. Ross Gundlach had been separated from Casey, a Labrador retriever with whom he had forged a bond in the rugged terrain of Afghanistan’s Helmand province, sweeping roads for bombs.

Tips For Spotting A Liar During A Negotiation Business InsiderMay 21, 2013A practiced liar can be extremely difficult to detect, which can have a big impact on negotiations that goes unnoticed until it’s too late. In a recent paper written up at Harvard Business School Working Knowledge, the University of Wisconsin’s Lyn M. Van Swol and Michael T. Braun, and Harvard Business School’s Deepak Malhotra took a look at whether there were any telltale language clues that can help detect a liar.